Ladder.



N. W. HENNING.

LADDER.

APPLIOATIOH FILED IAB. 28, 1910.

Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

NATHAN W. HENNING, F LOCK NO. 1. PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

LADDER.

Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

Application filed March 28, 1910. Serial No. 551,939.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,NAT1 .N \V. HENNING, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Look No. 4, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ladders, and the primary object of my invention is to provide a ladder that can be safely used upon irregular surfaces, stair-ways or similar structures, the ladder being provided with positive and reliable means forsupporting the same perpendicular relative to its support, thus allowing the ladder to be safely used for various purposes.

Another object of this invention is to furnish a ladder with an adjustable leg that can be easily and quickly set whereby one rail of the ladder can rest upon a surface above the adjustable leg carried by the opposite rail of the ladder.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ladder with an adjustable leg that is simple in construction, durable, easy to adjust and highly efiicient as a support for retaining a ladder in a perpendicular position.

With the above and such other objects in view as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed.

Reference will now be had to the drawing forming a part of this specification, wherein there is illustrated a referred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that the structural elements thereof can be varied or changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In the drawing :Figure 1 is a front elevation of a ladder constructed in accordance with my invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the adjustable leg of the ladder, Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the adjustable leg. v

In the accompanying drawings the reference numerals 2 and 2 denote thevrails of a ladder connected by rounds or steps 3, the rails 1 and 2 being of equal length and equally spaced apart throughout their length by the rounds 3, said rounds being in parallelism whereby the ladder can be safely ascended.

The rail 2 has the outer side thereof provided with a longitudinal recess 4 havinga rack bar or plate 5 retained in said recess by screws 6 or other fastening means, the rack bar having the outer face thereof flush with the side of the rail 2. Slidably mounted upon the rail 2 is a channel-shaped leg 7 having the side flanges 8 thereof bent inwardly, as at 9 to engage in the cut away portions 10 of the rail 2, these flanges slidably holding the leg upon the rail 2.' The lower end of the leg 7 1s closed, as at 11 to form a foot and the outer side of said leg directly above the foot is cut away, as at 12 and the cut material bent outwardly, as at 13 to form a lug or tread piece adapted to facilitate the operation of lowering the leg upon the rail 2. The outer side of the rail 7 above the lug is provided with oppositely disposed bearing plates or brackets 14 for a pivoted pawl 15 held between said bearing plates or brackets by a pivot pin 16. The upper end of the awl is provided with a toothed gripping blbck 17 adapted to extend through a rectangular opening 18 provided therefor in the leg, whereby the gripping block 17 can normally engage the rack bar 5.

Between the bearing plates or brackets 14: is

arranged a spring 19 having one end thereof secured, as at 20 to the leg, while the op posite end bears against the under side of the pawl 15 and holds the gripping block 17 in engagement with the rack bar 5. One of the flanges 9 of the leg has the upper end thereof provided with a projection 21 adapt ed to engage a pin 22 carried by the rail 2,

said pro ection and in limiting the downward movement of the leg, thus preventing the leg from becoming accidentally detached from the rail 2. To lower the leg it is only necessary to press upon the lug or tread piece 13 and the gripping block 17 will re cede over the teeth of the rack bar 5 until the projection 21 engages the pin 22, such adjustment of the leg representing its lowermost position. To raise the leg it is only necessary that the lower end of the pawl 15 be pressed inwardly, compressing the spring 19 and moving the gripping block 17 out of engagement with the rack bar 5. After the leg has been raised to a desired position, the pawl 15 can be released and the spring 19 will return the gripping block 17 to its normal position.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated the manner in which a ladder constructed in accordance with my invention can be used upon a stairway, and while the ladder is preferably made of wood, the leg will be made of metal to insure perfect safety when using the ladder.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new is The combination with the side rail of a ladder having the longitudinal marginal portions of its inner face at the lower end thereof cut away to provide longitudinallyextending seats, said rail further having its outer face formed with a longitudinallyextending rectangular recess, of a bar seated in said recess and provided with a row of teeth extending from a point removed from the upper to a point removed from the lower end of the bar thereby providing each end of the bar with a smooth portion, said smooth portion being flush with the outer face of said rail, means extending through the smooth portions of the bar for fixedly securing it in position, a vertically-adjustable channel-shaped leg slidably mounted upon the lower end of said rail and having itsinner portion provided with a pair of inwardly-projecting longitudinally-extending flanges mounted in said seats and flush with the inner face of the rail, said leg provided with an opening near the upper end thereof, a pair of s aced bearing plates secured to the outer side of said leg and formed at their inner sides with outwardly-entending flanges spaced from each other, said plates positioned below said opening, a

. spring pressed pawl positioned between and pivotally connected with the flanges of the bearing plates, a rectangular toothed ripping block carried by the upper end 0% the pawl and extending through said opening .and engaging the teeth of the rack for maintaining the leg stationary, a pin rojecting inwardly from the inner face of said rail near the lower end thereof, a projection carried by the upper end of said leg and adapted to engage the pin whereby the downward movement of the leg is arrested, and a laterally-extending lug constituting a hand grip struck from the outer side of' said leg near the lower end thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. NATHAN W. HENNING. Witnesses:

GEo. A. PARKISON, ROBERT ABBOTT. 

